Nihil Novi Sub Sole
by Konstantinsen
Summary: 'There is nothing new under the sun.' Remnant may be different to the wastelands they have walked but the same principles apply. The same struggles, the same methods, the same game, the same cards. Maybe this time, the strategy would be different.
1. Chapter 1

_"Welcome to Beacon, Professor."_

_ "Thank you, Headmaster Ozpin."_

_ "Please, no need for the formality. I find it a better working environment if we are on a first-name basis between staff."_

_ A light chuckle. "Very well, Ozpin. It's an honor and a privilege to teach here."_

_ A low hum. "With your particular set of skills and your rather unique Semblance, I'd be honored to have you on my staff."_

_ The two men laughed._

_ "When can I begin?"_

_ "Next week. When the students will be returning form their break. I'm confident that is enough time to prepare?"_

_ "More than enough time."_

_ "If there is anything that you need, don't hesitate to ask."_

_ A small smile. "Thank you for the offer but I believe I can find what I need without putting a strain on your resources."_

_ An amused smirk. "Of course."_

* * *

The Branwen twins snorted at the new curriculum that had opened up for the first semester of their sophomore year at Beacon Academy. While Taiyang and Summer—and pretty much every other student here with enough brain cells to act on initiative and common sense—would jump at these courses, Raven and Qrow had grown up basically with the same stuff that constituted the subject matter of these classes.

"Whoa, I think I'm signing up for this one," Tai immediately swooned.

Summer nodded agreement. "Makes sense since we'll be doing missions in a variety of environments for extended periods of time."

The twins yawned.

"Big deal," Qrow grunted. "Have fun eating bugs for breakfast."

"Probably wouldn't stomach them," Raven chided.

"Come on, guys," prodded the enigmatic leader of team STRQ. "This isn't that bad. Sure, I know you two have been through some rough patches growing up but maybe this'll give you some new ideas?"

Qrow raised a brow. "Rough patches is mildly putting it."

"I decline," Raven retorted. She turned on her heel back towards their dorm room. "Have fun learning the basics of the outdoors."

"Not so fast!"

Taiyang laughed as Summer dragged both Branwens back to their team bubble. Qrow had been too hungover to resist while Raven, despite her distaste, relented if only to see where this was going. Team STRQ assembled before the holographic message boards where the course curriculum had been outlined for all to see.

'Survival 101 – Basic' and 'Survival 102 – Advanced' were both highlighted in yellow-bordered boxes. The numbers next to them were dropping. Only a few slots left.

Raven quickly noticed the oddity here. The school had just opened two subjects steeped in a subject matter that she saw as the most vital thing to anyone living out in the wilds. Both were taught by the same instructor. A certain 'Professor U.'

For a moment, she considered the possibility that another member of their Tribe, probably a senior veteran, had infiltrated the Academy to assist them. Then again, given how much it cost to get them both here to begin with, she doubted any resources or effort could have been devoted to bring another one in let alone if there were any resources left to spare given the recent tides in Mistral.

She glanced across her shoulder to see Qrow sporting the same scrutiny on his lazy face. By then, Summer had already gone through her lecture about team unity and cohesion and the like. They tuned her out until they heard a few beeps and a ding. The twins looked up at the boards to see team STRQ was now registered under Professor U's class.

"You think we'll be eating bugs and drinking our own piss?" Taiyang snickered.

"Mine tastes like sour lemon if you want some," Qrow bantered.

"Ew!" Summer recoiled. "How do you even know that?"

Raven sighed into her palm. "Don't ask."

The two boys burst into laughter before continuing to exchange more sickening jokes, much to the chagrin of the two girls. Raven shook her head and allowed Summer to tug her away. When they were far enough away to never hear any more disgusting boy talk, the former noticed the latter smiling up at her with that ridiculous optimism that made her sick to her stomach.

"Hey, I know this might feel a bit redundant but at least give this one a chance," Summer prodded. "Who knows? Maybe you'll be better at what you're already good at?"

Raven wanted to express her disdain but instead found herself agreeing. Her team leader did have a point. And because she was being nice, which was almost always, she decided to follow along. Besides, she was curious herself.

What could this Professor U teach them about survival? Only one way to find out.

* * *

Their first class was outdoors. Unsurprising given their subject matter. No syllabi or anything to the hint at what they were getting into. Not even a single word from the staff, even Ozpin himself.

The only biggest thing of intrigue was their instructor. An imposing man with dark skin and piercing brown eyes, ebony hair twisted into braids, bulging muscles that bore more scars than can be counted. He radiated authority and experience as his duster ruffled in the breeze on the edges of one of Beacon's furthermost undeveloped cliffs.

Most of the class, all sophomores, were either eager to get started or apprehensive at what was about to happen. Among them, there was Glynda Goodwitch, chin up and radiating her condescending air of confidence, perhaps expecting something that would either impress her or disappoint her. Over in the corner stood Bartholomew Oobleck, clutching his coffee thermos and without a doubt thinking of a hundred excuses to take it with him. Behind him, Gretchen Rainart checked her polished nails which could actually blind someone with how shiny she painted them. Even that annoying faunus activist Sienna Khan had signed up and was casually leaning against a tree chewing bubble gum.

Team STRQ was the last to show up, making it in time for the brief orientation. Already, Summer was agape with wonder. Taiyang imitated their instructor's posture, folding his arms to show that he too could puff up his biceps and show off the same tattoos that everyone in school had already seen. Qrow tilted his head with that analytical arrogance. And Raven simply observed, curious and intrigued.

"Welcome to Basic Survival," greeted the professor in loud baritone. "My name is Ulysses and I will be your teacher."

* * *

**ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: October 22, 2019**

**LAST EDITED: October 22, 2019**

**INITIALLY UPLOADED: October 22, 2019**

**NOTE: Hello again. It's been awhile. Some of you may remember me, some of you may not know my older RWBY-Fallout crossover that I had running for a while. Well, my muses ran amok and I let them run amok. Pathetic excuse but an excuse nonetheless.**

**Around early 2018, I published a crossover called _Pit Stop_. I ran with it for six months then jumped into the main fandom and starting writing there. Then last December, I started playing _Fallout: New Vegas_ for the first time since 2013 and I feel refreshed and reinvigorated.**

**Yes, I'm getting back to _Pit Stop_. No, this is an entirely different story to _Pit Stop_ but it draws from the same universe. Yes, I'm aware that the trope I used here has been done before. No, I have not read any of the other RWBY-Fallout crossover stories so any resemblances are purely coincidental.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy this one-shot that I've got boiling in my head for months.**


	2. Chapter 2

_"Team STRQ shows great promise."_

_ "Ah, yes. Truly one of the best teams of this generation, I must say."_

_ "You are reserved with your compliments," Ulysses noted._

_ "As you are cryptic with your words," Ozpin returned._

_ A huff. "Cryptic? 'Tis but an oddity. As there exists this oddity to Miss Rose. I am sure you are fully aware."_

_ "Care to be precise? She has many oddities—"_

_ "In all the years that I have wandered, I have never encountered a person bearing eyes shining bright silver."_

_ A low hum. "Hm, yes, of course. Quite an extremely rare trait."_

_ "Your genetics here are indeed very strange yet not surprising. The Branwen siblings have been shedding feathers in their wake. I have collected enough to make a necklace."_

_ "Is that so?"_

_ A brief chuckle. "I half expect Mister Xiao-Long to start breathing fire out of his sleep. Truly, such wonders so great that they must be kept secret, no?"_

_ Ozpin met Ulysses's heavy stare with his own. "Secrecy exists for a reason, after all."_

_ "As the reasons themselves are secret. I will be seeing to my students now. Good day, Ozpin."_

* * *

If there was one thing that bonded Raven and Qrow as twins, it was that they could share the same exact thoughts at times. And on this night, out in the rugged, Grimm-infested wilderness miles away from Beacon Academy, surrounded by inept teammates and moronic team leaders, they both stared into the abyss with the exact same thought in mind:

'Fuck this class.'

Make no mistake about it, Raven and Qrow were bonafide bandits. They were born into banditry, they were raised into banditry, and they lived off of banditry until they were sent to Beacon Academy to covertly subvert the biggest threat to their marauding ways. While their upbringing gave them a superior edge in many of the aspects that constituted the life of a Huntsman, truth be told, the Branwen twins were far from the best. Heck, they were a step below the average Huntsman.

Perhaps it was their pride that made them so bitter tonight. Surely, it was not the fact that they had been left to fend for themselves out here in the wilderness for three days now with nary a single hint of help from Professor Ulysses. Concretely, it was not because they had just suffered the worst food poisoning ever from a botched attempt at roasted wildlife. Most definitely, it was not because all their outdoor equipment—tent, portable cooking spit, spare clothes, beddings—were lost in the raging rapids when they were ambushed by an unexpected pack of Grimm. And their sourness was obviously not borne from the fact that they were wet, cold, smelly, itchy, and hungry.

At least everyone else was having it just as bad, if not worse.

Raven and Qrow sat numbly next to each other on the log before the campfire that had kept everyone else warm and at least hopeful. Their natural instinct by then would have been shaking down the nearest person for sustenance—and an excuse to vent out their frustrations. Alas, their cover forced them to squeeze amongst these dumb idiots who thought they knew survival.

Well, neither did the two of them. But they would never admit that, no.

Except to Professor Ulysses, though. Then again, Raven had a strong feeling that the mysterious survivalist knew far more than he let on. That and the fact that he could get so annoyingly cryptic with certain topics. Like nations and couriers.

She could have easily shrugged it off as some kind of vague inside joke among the staff but her gut screamed otherwise. First, Headmaster Ozpin. Now, Professor Ulysses. Beacon Academy sure had its fair share of secrets that shook her to her core by the simple fact that they were so closely guarded and very, very unnervingly abstruse.

Raven could remember the time she caught Ozpin staring at her from behind his mug. He saw right through her, she was sure of it! As far as she knew, neither she nor her dumb brother had given away so much as a hint of who they truly were. Yet, she was damn certain that Ozpin knew. Then there was that scrutinizing eye that Ulysses flashed her shortly after their introductory lectures on survival last week.

Ugh. Two men eying her like a piece of meat. Not exactly disgusting but still downright fucking creepy.

"Ugh, I hate this..."

Raven and Qrow craned their heads, and their dead stares, to Summer. Out of all the things their squeak box of a team leader would say, they never expected her to express such tired pessimism. Probably because this was the first time that they ever heard her say something like this.

"Eh, it ain't that bad, Sum."

The Branwen twins turned their necks to Taiyang who tried his hardest to keep that weakening smile plastered over his face. That and he was still green from vomiting whatever food he had left in his stomach after ingesting the wrong type of bugs earlier in the day.

"Are you sure that's edible?"

Team STRQ shifted in their seats to stare at Gretchen Rainart holding up a poorly sharpened stick upon which was impaled the charred carcass of...what used to be a squirrel. Or at least it looked like a squirrel. Ferret?

"Don't be picky. Better this than nothing at all."

Raven and Qrow collectively rolled their eyes at Glynda Goodwitch's rebuke. Gods, what a bullheaded try-hard. Annoying stuck-up bitch that she was, miss goody four-eyes had a point. There was nothing else left in the way of food and Professor Ulysses, wherever he was right now, had been as helpful as a tape recorder.

"Fbly-fblagh-hegarblehy..."

Everyone continued to tune out the garbled ramblings of the cathartic Bartholomew Oobleck. Mister hundred-words-per-minute continued to dig himself into his own pit of insanity while cradling his empty thermos with the vice grip of a starved lion. His fault for relying heavily so much on coffee that he could barely go three hours without a full cup of it. Amazingly, he had raked in the most kills against the Grimm. A desperate man was indeed a dangerous man when deprived of his caffeine.

"Who's taking up first watch?"

Raven and Qrow sure as hell weren't, that was for sure. Neither of them were in the mood for doing anything right now. They did their best to ignore Sienna Khan even after she—and everyone else in their group of eight—leveled their stares at them.

The twins glared back, too tired and too miserable to even say a single word.

"I call a vote," harped Summer. "We do rotations tonight. Who takes the first watch?"

"I vote for the birds," raised Gretchen.

"Seconded," added Sienna.

"Yep," chirped Taiyang with both his hands raised over his head.

Glynda sighed. And raised her hand. She also raised Bartholomew's hand as well, the poor bastard already convulsing from withdrawal.

The Branwen twins glowered into the fire with a single collective thought in their heads:

'Fuck this class.'

* * *

**ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: November 19, 2019**

**LAST EDITED: February 18, 2020**

**INITIALLY UPLOADED: February 18, 2020**


	3. Chapter 3

_ "Miss Branwen has a fire to her. It burns strong and vibrant."_

_ "And what of her brother?"_

_ "A subdued flame yet when kindled properly would rage greater than a mighty conflagration."_

_ Ozpin chuckled. "You have a way with words."_

_ Ulysses hummed. "What good are the old words when not even used and used properly?"_

_ "That is true. Your vocabulary is as wealthy as your knowledge of the outdoors."_

_ "Knowledge that should be instilled in the minds of those whose work inevitably takes them to the outdoors. Miss Branwen shows prior knowledge to what I teach. She lacks the skill to conceal her true motivations."_

_ "The Branwen twins have had an interesting upbringing."_

_ "One that would have merited them rapid death had they not left their wooden palisades for your concrete walls."_

_ The headmaster tapped his cane on the marble floor of the empty corridor. "So you have discerned."_

_ The courier paused in his stride. "I know my students, Ozpin. The Branwens are of an ilk that my kind would have exterminated without question."_

_ "And now?"_

_ "They are my students. What they do under my tutelage is my great concern. After their schooling however, 'tis not my responsibility."_

_ "But their future is ultimately your concern."_

_ A smile. "Yes, of course. As you are concerned for Miss Rose and her silver eyes, so am I concerned for the paths that the Branwens would take."_

_ "They are being guided."_

_ "By who, exactly?"_

_ Ozpin frowned. "I thought that was clear."_

_ Ulysses simpered. "The surface is clear but the mines are not. I do not know what you have planned for Miss Rose or Miss Branwen. But I do hope that you are fighting a survivable battle with them as your pawns."_

* * *

Raven would begrudgingly admit that Professor Ulysses was a master of his craft. Barring his convoluted vocabulary and annoyingly vague 'advice,' she could not deny that he knew exactly what he was doing.

And despite everyone's absolute disgust at what they had to ingest, at the end of the day, they all agreed that it was greatly effective at what it was supposed to do: saving their lives.

"There is no name for it," Professor Ulysses had told the class over the sputtering campfire that early dew-drenched morning when the scent of wet pine was overcome by a strong dry aroma of sand. "What matters more is to drink it."

Qrow chose that moment to throw in a dumb question. "Does it have a buzz?"

Raven raised her brow when the grizzled survivalist smirked. "You can find out."

Thus, her idiot of a brother sauntered over with that arrogance in his step and snatched the glass bottle from the ground. Recycled bottle, hastily cleaned in the stream, and filled with that damning concoction that the students all reviled (yet secretly were grateful for). He took one long swig and promptly tumbled onto his rear gagging.

No matter what anyone said, Raven did not stand up to tend to him. No, she did not panic. Absolutely not did she show any signs of cracking. Such a show of weakness would have been fuel for the endless teasing from Gretchen and Summer. Though, she swore she caught Glynda smirking at her and her brother's discomfort.

"Swallow it," Ulysses ordered. "Don't spit it out."

Qrow did swallow. And despite his absolute horror, he did feel a lot better afterwards. In fact, his Aura returned in full in less than a minute and he was back to chopping through Grimm with intense vigor and cocky finesse. From then on, he adamantly refused to take another swig of that bitter drink.

Yes. The whole class called it 'Bitter Drink' after that.

Everyone had to sample it at the end of the day anyway. Raven hated it. But she valued its usefulness. Probably more than the rest of the lugs in this class, her brother included. That did not mean she was willing to chug it down again...unless absolutely necessary, of course. Pragmatism and all that.

The following morning, Professor Ulysses taught them how to make Bitter Drink. The ingredients were actually very common and the process rather simple. In fact, Bitter Drink was a less painful alternative to the trail powder that apparently stung when applied to the affected area. Both remedies were unpleasant but effective. Raven honestly preferred the powder over the drink.

A few days later, when the class finally returned from the wilds, Raven caught Qrow switching up their drinks in the cafeteria with whatever it was that was on his flask.

"Hey, Rae! Want some booze?"

"I'm not falling for that again."

* * *

A week later, Taiyang decided to play a prank on Bartholomew. The blonde idiot switched the speedster's coffee with Bitter Drink (or whatever disgusting concoction that dumb dragon came up with) and hid in the bushes to record the results.

What happened next ended with the whole of team STRQ in Ozpin's office. Followed by thirty hours of repairing the courtyard, filling up the pools, fixing the plumbing, replanting the uprooted trees, and chipping in to pay for Bart's therapy. Who knew Ozpin took slights to coffee so seriously?

On the bright side, Raven roped in that condescending hag Glynda who then roped in that annoying bitch Gretchen who went so far as to drag that arrogant skank Sienna as well.

Now the seven of them suffered together, cleaning up puddles of vomit and burying mounds of upturned soil, fertilizer, and someone's shit. With Glynda 'obliged' to help, it was easy. Well, replacing the debris and restoring the furniture was easy. The rest... Well, telekinesis had its limits.

"You're despicable, have I told you that?" Glynda groused as she scrubbed off the worrisomely permanents stains of odorous waste off the cafeteria floor.

Raven hid her snicker. "Ten times over the last two hours."

"We get it, Goodbitch," grunted Gretchen.

Sienna hissed loudly. "Shut up and scrub."

"This is fun," Summer chirped with a beaming smile.

The rest of them craned their heads to the STRQ's team captain. Among them, Raven had the most courage to say, "Shut the fuck up, Summer."

* * *

Raven swore to all that was holy that Professor Ulysses was eyeing her sharper than a starved vulture. She caught him this time and he did not even bother to look away! Rather, he smiled at her. Instinct would have forced her to run but Raven was a woman who held no fear—she faced her problems head on! She did, she really did!

So she marched over to the giant of a man while scrunching her nose at the powerful dry aroma coming off of him. "Is there something you need from me, Professor?"

To her horror, he handed her a necklace made of black corvid feathers. Her feathers. Her brother's feathers.

"Miss Branwen. You dropped this."

Raven watched him walk away. The accursed handmade haberdashery nearly fell from her trembling hands. Her heart raced and with eyes that were growing wider by the second, she turned on her heel and walked hastily back to the dorms. Maybe Qrow was there. Or her other teammates. Someone she could trust at least.

In her panic, she had failed to notice a curious Glynda observing her from across the yard as well as an unsmiling Ozpin watching from behind the stained glass of his clocktower.

* * *

Raven locked the door behind her as she pressed herself against it to calm her nerves.

"Rae? What's going on?"

Qrow! Her dumb brother was the only one around. He lay slouched on his bed, pulling away the dirty magazine that had been draped over his face.

Raven stilled her breathing though she was not doing a good of it considering how her twin leaped to his feet and rushed over with utmost concern. "Rae, calm down! What's going on?"

She held up the necklace and Qrow fell silent.

"... Shit."

* * *

**ORIGINALLY DRAFTED: February 18, 2020**

**LAST EDITED: March 5, 2020**

**INITIALLY UPLOADED: March 5, 2020**


End file.
